LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Shelf ....W-2.- 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



>. 



P ractical Graining 



WITH DESCRIPTION OF 



COLORS EMPLOYED AND TOOLS USED 



ILLUSTRATED BY 



FORTY-SEVEN COLORED PLATES 



REPBESENTINO THE VAR1O0S WOODS USED IN INTERIOR FINISHlfJC, 



BY 



/ 



P WILLIAM E. WALL 

^ GRAINER TO THE TRADE. .^ 



,...37,^.7"'' 



y 



PHILADELPHIA: 

HOUSB PAINTING AND DECORATING PUBLISHING CO. 

EIGHTEEN— NINETY— ONE. 



\ 






Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1890 by 

The House Painting and Decorating Publishing Co. 

in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C. 

All Rights Reserved. 



•y 






3^ 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter I. 

Page. 

Groundworks for graining; graining compared with 

plain painted work; removing old paint; mixing 
ground colors 5 

Chapter II. 
The graining color; imitating simple woods; graining 
color for light oak; mixing graining color; apply- 
ing the color; representing champs or lights of oak 9 

Chapter III. 
Quartered oak; overgraining; heart of oak; use of the 
check roller 13 

Chapter IV. 
Graining oak in distemper; the light veins in oak; 
graining ash; putting in heart work; over-graining 
ash; ash in distemper; matching white ash ... 16 

Chapter V. 
Hungarian ash; burl ash in water color and in oil . 19 

Chapter VI. 
Chestnut; colors for graining chestnut; wiping the 
hearts and blending; chestnut in water color; bird's- 
eye maple; putting in lights and shades; putting in 
the eyes; curly or rock maple; silver maple ... 21 

Chapter VII. 
Satinwood; groundwork for satinwood; putting in 
the mottling 26 

Chapter VIII. 
Pollard oak; cherry; cherry in distemper; glue size 
for distemper binder 27 



Chapter IX. 
Black walnut in oil; black walnut in distemper .31 

Chapter X. 
French walnut burl in distemper 32 

Chapter XI. 
Mahogany; Honduras feathered mahogany; stippling 
in mahogany; feathered mahogany 35 

Chapter XII. , 
Rosewood; the use of the bamboo brush; imitating 
rosewood in water color; cypress wood 37 

Chapter XIII. 
Hard pine; white wood 40 

Chapter XIV. 
Varnishing over grained work ; cracking of varnish 
on inside work s 42 

Chapter XV. 
Graining considered as a fine art ; graining sometimes 
condemned ; the artistic merit of graining .... 46 

Chapter XVI. 
The tools used by grainers ; combs ; overgrainers ; 
badger blenders ; castellated overgrainers ; mottlers ; 
cutters ; stipplers ; check roller ; fresco bristle 
liners 48 

Chapter XVII. 
Patent graining machines ; patent roller process ; the 
Mason pad ; objections to machine graining ; stencil 
plates ; gransorbian transfer process ; transfer 
paper 54 

Chapter XVIII. 
The imitation of carved work, mouldings, etc. . • • 59 



UST OF COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS. 

1. Grounds for Graining Hungarian Ash, Maple, Light 

Ash and Light Oak. 

2. Grounds for Graining Chestnut, Dark or Pollard Oak, 

Black or French Walnut, Stained Cherry, Mahogany 
and Rosewood. 

3. Flaked Oak, Light. 

4. Plain or Wainscot Oak, Light. 

5. Heart Growth Oak, Light. 

6. Flaked Oak, Light. 

7. Heart Growth Oak, Pencilled. 

8. Flaked Oak, Light, Shaded. 

9. Heart of Oak, Checked and Shaded. 

10. Flaked Oak, Light Shaded. 

11. Flaked or Quartered Dark Oak, Shaded. 

12. Heart of Light Ash, Wiped Out. 

13. Heart of Light Ash Wiped Out and Shaded. 

14. Heart of Ash, Dark, Pencilled. 

15. Hungarian Ash, Wiped Out and Pencilled. 

16. Burl Ash in Water Colors. 

17. Dark Ash, Pencilled and Combed. 

18. Hungarian Ash, Wiped Out. 

19. Bird's-Eye Maple, Overgrained. 

20. Chestnut. 

21. Bird's-Eye Maple, Mottled Ready for the Eyes. 

22. Bird's-Eye Maple with the Eyes. 

23. Chestnut. 

24. Satinwood Mottled. 

25. Satinwood Mottled and Overgrained. 
25. Curly Maple Mottled to Overgrain. 
27. Curly Maple Overgrained. 

23. Pollard Oak. 

29. Pollard Oak. 

30. Cherry Mottled in Oil before being Overgrained. 



31., Cherry Mottled and Pencilled in Oil. 

32. Cherry Mottled and Pencilled in Oil. 

33. Cherry Mottled and Pencilled in Oil as Finished. 

34. Cherry Wiped Out and Pencilled in Oil 

35. Walnut Stipple. 

36. Black Walnut Pencilled. 

37. Walnut Wiped Out and Pencilled. 

38. Curly Walnut. 

39. French Walnut Burl. 

40. Mahogany Mottled. 

41. Mahogany Straight. 

42. Rosewood as Outlined to Overgrain. 

43. Mahogany Feathered. 

44. Rosewood as Finished. 

45. Cypress in Oil. 

46. Hard Pine. 

47. Whitewood in Oil. 



MAPLE OR SATIN WOOD. 



LIGHT ASH. 



HUNGARIAN ASH. 



GROUNDS FOR GRAINING.— IN ILLUSTRATION OF ARTICLE BY WM. E. WALL 



PRACTICAL GRAIN INO. 




CHAPTER I. 

GROUND-WORKS FOR GRAINING. 

FOIvLOWING remarks, while not claim- 
ing to be anything new or startling, will 
perhaps be of interest to those who seek 
to improve themselves in the modern 
style of imitating the grain of wood. The 
ideas set forth in these pages are founded on the observation 
and every-day experience of a grainer to the trade who does 
not claim to be the best in the world, but who offers his sug- 
gestions for the good of the craft. 

Graining is often overlooked in the rage for stained white 
wood or olive greens in interior work, but it will always 
find favor with those who have experienced its wearing 
qualities as compared with plain painted work; for should 
the varnish be of good quality and not crack, the work, ifi 
properly done, will stand for years and will not fade in the 
manner that paint does, and where the work is properly done 
on new wood it cannot be chipped oflf unless the wood 
is taken off with it. It can be scoured off, but will not come 
off otherwise. Where graining is done over old paint or over 
work that has been previously grained the case is different, 
as, if knocked or bruised, it will chip off to the coat beneath, 
and where the work has formerly been white the effect is 
very bad and is hard to remedy; but if care is taken when 
grounding the work, it may to a great extent be prevented. 



PR A C TIC A L GRA INING. 



In preparing old work for graining one of the first 
things requisite is to have the surface made as smooth as 
possible; this may be done with sand-paper or — what is 
better — lump pumice stone. 

In case the graining is done over old paint that has 
cracked the best thing to do is to remove the old varnish or paint 
by the application of a strong solution of washing soda or a 
weak solution of potash. Some painters use spirits of ammonia 
or burn off with a burning-lamp. After thoroughly soften- 
ing or removing the old paint or varnish with either soda or 
potash, the work should be washed off with a weak solu- 
tion of vinegar (about a pint of vinegar to a pailful of 
water), in order to remove all traces of the alkali and prevent 
its future action on the paint. Some painters think that this 
is too much trouble and assert that they cannot get paid for 
doing work in this way, but in the end it will prove to be 
the best way, as it will greatly add to the appearance and 
durability of any job so to prepare it. In any case the 
work should be thoroughly sand-papered and made as smooth 
as possible before receiving the first coat; this, of course, is 
for old work. The ground-color should be thinned with 
about half spirits of turpentine and half oil, with the ad- 
dition of sufficient drier for old work, and oil, with an extra 
quantity of drier, for first coat on new work, using some 
spirits for the second and third coats. 

The writer has found by experience that on the cheapest 
jobs (of two -coat work) where the wood is sappy and the 
work has been rendered rough by the painter using a large 
quantity of drier in his priming coat, a much better surface 
is made to grain over by this method. It will not spot or 
look cloudy when rubbed in to grain, as two-coat work often 
does on new wood. 

A little "elbow-grease" and sand-paper between coats 
make a vast difference in the looks of a job when finished, 
and the ground-work should always be lightly sand-papered 
before it is rubbed in by the grainer. 



. 


CHESTNUT. 






DARK Ofi POLLARD OAK 


- 


BLACK OR FRENCH WALNUT. 






STAINED CHERRY. 


MAHOGANY. 






ROSEWOOD. 



GROUNDS FOR GRAINING.— IN ILLUSTRATION OF ARTICLE BY WM. E. WALL 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



In mixing the ground-color for graining never use dry 
colors where it can be avoided, as the work will be more or 
less gritty, and there is really no saving in their use. A 
pound of color ground in oil will go much further than one 
of dry color, is more easily applied and is much better to 
grain over. Of course much depends on the purity of the 
colors employed, and the painter will find that the best 
colors are none too good for his use, as they go further and 
work better than do the cheaper grades. It is a good plan 
always to strain the color before thinning, whether the colors 
used be dry or ground. 

The foregoing may seem superfluous to the good work- 
man, as he himself has probably found out more than this; 
but it may put some beginner on the right track, and none 
of us are expert enough to miss learning a point if we can. 

MIXING OF THE GROUND COLORS. 

The ground-work for oak is made by adding yellow 
ochre to lead till the color is deep enough. In matching the 
real wood a little raw umber will help to bring it to the de- 
sired color, but is better without the umber for light work. 

In matching very light oak chrome yellow may be sub- 
stituted for ochre. For dark oak use the same colors 
as for light and add Venetian red and burnt umber; 
the same color will do for pollard oak. For green 
oak {d la ftirnihire) do the same as for ordinary work, and 
when grained shade it over with a thin wash of chrome 
green or add a little black to the ground color. For ash 
use the same color as for light oak, but do not get it 
quite so yellow; a little raw umber will counteract this. 
A little chrome yellow may be added for Hungarian ash. 
For chestnut use a similar color to that for ash, but deeper 
and with a little red. For maple the ground-work should 
be very light. To an ordinary pot two-thirds full of lead 
well broken up add about a teaspoonful of chrome yellow 
and about half that amount of burnt sienna; some grainers 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



prefer a very little Venetian red instead of the burnt sienna. 
In matching the wood get the ground-work as near the 
lightest color on the wood as possible, and you cannot go 
astray. For satin-wood the ground-work is similar to maple, 
but deeper in color. For burl ash use the same color as for 
ash, or slightly deeper. 

The ground-work for cherry is probably mixed different- 
ly by every painter — at least, that is my experience — and it 
is hard work to make any workman believe that his is not 
the right way. In different parts of the country the popu- 
lar idea of what ' ' cherry color' ' is, varies greatly. In the ma- 
jority of cases what has been called ' ' the color of the 
fruit" is wanted, so we must make the ground-work to suit 
the demand. Cherry in its natural color is but little darker 
than ash, and the ground-work may be made in the same 
way or by adding raw sienna to the lead instead of yellow 
ochre and umber. The cherry that grainers have to match 
is often finished by furniture-makers, and is as dark as ma- 
hogany; in such cases the ground-work must be made with 
yellow ochre for the basis of the color and darkened by 
Venetian red. It will want little if any lead for the darker 
kinds of stained cherry, but will stand some for the lighter 
shades. In priming new work add considerable lead for 
first coat, as it gives more body. Three thin coats are none 
too many for new work, and they should be applied without 
leaving brush-marks. There is nothing more aggravating 
to the grainer than to find that a job is full of streaks of 
thick paint, as it is almost impossible to do a good job on 
such a ground- work. 

The foregoing remarks apply to priming coats on new 
wood for graining any kind of wood. 

The ground-work for walnut is made by taking yellow 
ochre for the base of the color and adding a small quantity 
of Venetian red and a little burnt umber; for very light 
work a little lead may be added. The same ground will do 
for French walnut. For mahogany the ground-work is 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



made of yellow ochre, Venetian red and red lead. For rose- 
wood chrome yellow, red lead and a small quantity of 
Venetian red. The foregoing are about all the woods that 
a grainer in New England is called upon to imitate; and if I 
mistake not, it is so elsewhere. Of course all painters or 
grainers may not agree with me in using the colors named 
for preparing the ground- work, but good work can be done 
on such grounds. One thing I wish to say is, Never use 
Indian red in a ground-color, as it is not transparent and 
makes the work look muddy. In grounding work for 
cherry or walnut, where the old paint is not removed, it is 
well to add some red lead to the color, which should be fre- 
quently stirred, or the red lead will deposit on the bottom 
of the pot. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE GRAINING COLOR. 

MIXING the graining-color 
for any wood just as much 
difference of opinion exists 
among grainers as to the prop- 
er way of mixing the color as 
there is among painters as to 
the proper way of mixing the 
ground-color, and although 
different grainers have their 
own method of preparing and mix- 
ing their graining-color, and often 
use different materials and colors, 
still, good workmen will often obtain 
the same effects, but by a different process. Such being the 
case, it is impossible to lay down any cast-iron rule for the 
materials to be used in the representation of any wood or for 
the proper way to imitate any wood. 

In imitating the color of certain woods the colors used 




PR A CTICA L GRA INING. 



are quite simple, while for other woods considerable pains 
must be taken and a number of colors used if the color of 
the wood is to be matched. I think the most common fault 
of graining is that the color is made darker than it should 
be; still, the grainer is not always to blame for this, as such 
a fault cannot be laid to his charge if the painters insist on 
keeping the ground-color itself as dark as or darker than 
the work should be when grained. Many a time in the 
experience of grainers is this the case, and I have on more 
than one occasion mixed a proper ground-color to match 
wood after being called upon by some alleged painter (who 
thought the ground-color he had put on was correct) to 
grain the job, but in most cases it is said, " Do the best you 
can with it and let it go, as the folks want to move in," or, 
" I want to get my money," etc., and so grainers do the 
job if the color is not too far off from what it should be. 

lyCt us suppose that we are going to grain a job of light 
oak in oil. First lightly sand-paper the ground-work with 
a piece of fine or an old piece of sand-paper, and dust off. 
The ground-color should be quite hard, and not tacky, 
before the graining-color is applied, and two or three days is 
none too long a time to stand before being grained. Where 
a good job is to be done and finished at one impression, as 
we might call it, the manner of working can be reversed — 
that is, the work can be shaded or over-grained, as it were, 
on the ground-color in distemper before being rubbed in oil. 
The check roller can be used to good advantage, and the 
panels and stiles of doors streaked or mottled. The dis- 
temper color must not be diluted with much water, or it will 
rub off when the oil-color is being applied over it. This 
way of working is an advantage in matching stained oak, 
as all that remains to be done after it is grained is to stain it 
to the desired depth or color. On ordinary work this shad- 
ing is done on the graining-color when dry. 

The colors necessary for graining oak will be raw sienna 
and burnt umber, with a very little black to be added in case 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



it is needed. It is impossible to specify the exact amount 
of each color to be used, and the judgment of the workman 
must be exercised in all cases. The ordinary way is to mix 
about two-thirds raw sienna and one-third burnt umber, 
adding the black if necessity should require to match wood. 
Do not get the color too yellow, but rather on the gray 
shade, as that is most frequently the color of the wood. 

The color should be thoroughly mixed in a clean pot, 
and, if in oil, thinned with the following mixture, or suffi- 
cient of it to bring the color to the desired shade: Half a 
gallon of spirits of turpentine; two and a half pints of 
linseed oil (boiled is to be preferred) ; half a pint japan drier. 
It is better not to use too much drier, and, as the drying 
qualities of each maker's japans, etc., vary greatly, the 
workman's judgment must guide him as to the exact 
amount to be used. It is a matter of doubt as to what is 
the best article with which to thicken the color without 
altering the shade; a little bolted whiting is very good. 
Some grainers prefer melted beeswax or soap dissolved in 
hot water and added to the color while hot, or even cold 
water stirred into the color. As a rule, the less of these 
added to the color, the better. 

After thinning to the desired consistency, a good brush 
is the next requisite for applying the color. Do not use 
stubby brushes, as in so doing you lose more time than you 
gain by making them last longer. By general consent the 
flat brush has superseded the round brush in the eastern 
states of America for grainers' use, as it requires no binding 
and is a much better blender, when used as such, than 
any round brush, and it is more quickly broken in for use. 
It is better to use a medium size rather than one too large; 
one about three and a half inches across the butt will be 
found the most serviceable. An oval or a flat sash tool and 
a No. 2 flat fresco bristle liner, to be used as a fitch tool in 
putting in hearts, etc., will be all the brushes required. A 
set of steel combs, or even two, a coarse and a fine steel 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



comb and ©ne or two of good rubber, are all the tools that 
are required. The rubber combs should be coarse and fine 
— that is, the spaces between the teeth of the fine rubber 
comb should measure from one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an 
inch and the coarse one from one-eighth to one-quarter of an 
inch. Sometimes a rubber comb with the teeth cut graduated 
looks well introduced among the other work. Where the 
work is to be shaded or over-grained it is better to cover the 
teeth of the rubber combs with a thin cotton rag before 
using, taking a clean place on the rag for every time the 
comb is used, but on cheap work this may be omitted. 

When a piece of work is rubbed in, if it is desired to 
represent "champs," or "lights of oak" — better known as 
quartered oak — the rubber combs are first used and carefully 
drawn through the color — not necessarily in a straight line 
— and the coarse or finer, or both the steel combs, are drawn 
lightly over the track of the rubber comb; the work is then 
blended lengthwise with the flat brush, which has previous- 
ly been rubbed out clean, and the champs or veins are put 
in across the grains previously made by the rubber and steel 
combs. The other implements necessary are a piece of soft 
rag and the thumb-nail. Many substitutes have been in- 
vented for the thumb-nail, but it is as yet unsurpassed for 
this particular purpose, as it is more sensitive than are the 
bone or horn substitutes sometimes used. 



Plate 3. 




PLAIN OR WAINSCOT OAK, LIGHT. 




FLAKED OAK, LIGHT. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 




CHAPTER III. 

QUARTERED OAK. 

IMITATING quartered oak, or 
an}^ other wood, it should al- 
ways be borne in mind that it is 
the wood that we wish to imitate, 
and not somebody's idea of 
what it should be — for if we copy 
others, we become, as Byron says, 
' ' degenerate copyists of copies' ' 
-and the best thing that any beginner can do is to 
procure pieces of the real wood, study the various 
changes of grain and get the general character of the 
grains of each wood impressed upon his mind, then en- 
deavor to reproduce them in his work; for the work will be 
judged by its general appearance, and not by the looks of 
any particular piece of work. After the champs or veins 
are wiped out with the rag, the spaces of combed work be- 
tween the champs must be softened by a piece of rag folded 
three or four times and drawn over the combed spaces and 
toward the edges of the work previously wiped out with the 
rag. The edges of the champs may first be sharpened up 
by drawing the second joint of the forefinger against them. 
A fine comb is then waved over the spaces of open work 
and the whole panel blended lightly crosswise with the flat 
brush. Quartered oak can be imitated by combing the same 
as has been described, and letting the work dry before taking 
out the champs. When the work is dry, mix a weak solu- 
tion of washing soda, and add a little dry umber to show 
where you touch the work, put on the champs with a fitch 
tool, let it stand a few minutes to soften the color, and then 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



rub off with a soft rag, and it will be found that the grain- 
ing-color is taken off to the ground-work, giving the same 
effect as if wiped out while the color was wet, onlj' that the 
work looks cleaner. Work done in this way should be 
over-grained. The champs may also be put in in dark color 
over the dry combed work, and left so, as some veins of oak 
appear dark in certain lights. These dark veins may be 
imitated by combing the work the same as if going to use 
the rag to wipe out. Do not blend, but put in the veins 
with a small fitch tool or fresco liner dipped in some color 
from the bottom of your pot — not too dark — and immediate- 
ly blend one way, lifting the edge of the color; after practice 
it will be found that a very good imitation of dark champs 
or veins is the result. Heart- work may be done in the same 
manner, but the combing should be done with a steel comb, 
the color for putting in the grains being but little darker 
than that with which the work is rubbed in. It is some- 
times necessary to go over the whole with a fine steel comb. 
An occasional dark piece introduced among wiped work 
tends to relieve the sameness and looks more like the hard- 
woods; it also gives a better opportunity (where a job is 
not to be overgrained) to make distinct mitres and joints. 
This is very important and should never be forgotten. Be 
sure and have all joints cleanly cut, as nothing so much 
offends the eye as wavy or crooked joints. It is always 
better to make a distinction between the long stiles of a door 
and the adjoining cross rails. A common fault of the 
amateur grainer is his inability to make clean-cut divisions. 
The heart of oak — or, as it is sometimes called, "slash 
oak" — is usually done in the wet color, and is not combed 
previous to being wiped out with a rag. The outline of 
the work is first wiped out and the inner edges are soft- 
ened with the rag. The edges of the work toward the 
side of the panel should be filled out either by hand or with 
a small rubber or leather comb covered with a thin piece of 
rag, being careful to follow close to the last line done by 




FLAKED OAK, LIGHT. 



Plate 6. 




HEART GROWTH OAK, LIGHT. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



hand. This is an operation which if not carefully done will 
spoil the appearance of any job. When the panel or piece of 
work is grained, a coarse steel comb may judiciously be 
used, drawing it lightly over the heart-work and softening 
the whole lengthwise with the dry brush and toward all 
knotty places or turns in the wood. In case the work is to 
be overgrained, care must be taken not to soften the edges 
too much, as it will present too sunken an appearance. The 
plain grains are made with the comb; and if this part of the 
work is properly done, the effect is better than if it were full 
of strong grains. 

When the work is to be overgrained (and good work 
cannot be done without), it may be overgrained when dry, 
in either oil or water color. If in oil (as we finish most out- 
side doors, etc., in this vicinity instead of varnishing them), 
the same color may be used as for graining, or with the ad- 
dition of a little more oil and drier, and darkened with 
umber if necessary. The check roller may first be used in 
water color, the work having previously been dampened, 
and, when the checks are dry, the whole gone over in oil. 
Or the checks may be put in in oil color after first overgrain- 
ing in water color; this will necessitate oiling or varnishing 
when dry. The check roller is used to good advantage on 
hearts of oak, and the work should then be lightly blended 
lengthwise. In shading the champs the brush may be 
drawn through the shading-color, leaving the work streak- 
ed; then wipe off where the color covers the champs too 
deep. A similar effect is obtained by using a medium fine 
comb covered with a rag, the color being taken off in this 
way; this is for oil color. The blender drawn through water 
color, or a common oak overgrainer, gives the same effect 
for water color. It is better to go all over the work with a thin 
coat of color, as it looks raw without, and shading it in 
this way gives the depth that is otherwise unobtainable. 
Shadows are put in around knarly places, and touches 
added where needed, and the job is finished. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 




CHAPTER IV. 

GRAINING OAK. 

MAY be overgrained by using a 
very thin coating of asphaltum 
for the shading color; thin with oil 
and spirits. 

Oak may be grained in distemper — that 
IS, using beer or alcohol for a vehicle 
with the color, instead of oil. Good 
work can be done in this way, but not 
so quickly as in oil. A little sugar added to the beer makes 
it dry slower and work better than without it. If a table- 
spoonful of alcohol be added to a pint of beer, the work can 
be combed while wet almost as well as if in oil. First 
dampen the ground with a sponge wrung out in clean 
water, and then rub on the color the same as in oil; comb 
while wet (or use an overgrainer when dry) and blend 
lightly with a badger blender; then wipe out the veins or 
champs with a wet rag before the color dries, or afterward, 
as desired. A similar effect for light veins is obtained by 
using the fitch tool to put on the veins or champs and lifting 
off the color with the blender, thus leaving the champs 
light. For dark veins the work is put on with a fitch and 
left as put on. The heart-work may be done in the same 
manner, both for light and for dark pieces, but it cannot be 
done so successfully as if done in oil. 

Of all the woods we have to imitate, I think oak is the 
most difficult, hence I have tried to explain the different 
ways in ordinary use of imitating it; and in closing I would 
say, Do not overdo your work. Most grainers put in more 
work — that is, showy grains — than would appear in the 
natural wood unless it were all selected. And remember 
that a nice piece of combed work is just as good a represen- 
tation of oak as the majority of the heart- work often seen. 



Plate 7. 




HEART GROWTH OAK, PENCILLED. 




FLAKED OAK, LIGHT, SHADED. 




HEART OF OAK, CHECKED AND SHADED. 






FLAKED OAK, LIGHT, SHADED. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



ASH. 

In graining ash in oil the colors necessary will be raw 
umber and raw sienna and a little Vandyke brown or black. 
Mix the color much the same as for oak, and the same tools 
can be used. After the color is rubbed in comb the places 
intended to be plain, and with the fitch tool or sash tool add 
lines, streaks, etc., if desired, using some color darkened 
with Vandyke brown or black, and blend lightly lengthwise 
with the dry brush. The heart-work or growth is repre- 
sented by wiping out the color with a soft rag, the same 
way as for the heart of oak, but in ash the hearts are less 
complicated, and the points of the growth will be found to 
run more regular, and generally with a rounding edge 
instead of being serrated, as are the majority of oak-growths. 
The hearts of ash are also more narrow in proportion to the 
width of the board than are those of oak, and their imitation 
is much less difi5cult. lyightly stipple all wiped-out hearts 
with the dry brush. I think ash is one of the easiest of 
woods to imitate, as oak is one of the most difficult. 

A very good imitation of a dark piece of heart-work 
may be done with a small fitch tool when the color is par- 
tially set. Sometimes the work is outlined roughly by 
lightly wiping off some of the color with a folded rag and 
describing the general direction of the grain to be followed 
by the fitch. The work is then put in with the fitch tool, 
and the edge of the color so put in is lifted with the blender, 
showing one edge light, and if carefully done, it looks well. 
The fitch tool is also employed to brighten the effects of the 
wiped-out hearts and to blend slightly. Where both means 
are used — that is, the fitch tool and the rag — in doing hearts 
of ash, the work presents a very woody appearance, and 
looks much better, if carefully done, than either method of 
doing heart-work does without the other. 

Ash is greatly improved by being overgrained, but a 
great many of the dark streaks can be put in while the color 
is wet. Allowance can be made when it is intended to 



i8 PRACTICAL GRAINING. 

overgrain the work, and the dark places can be done more 
successfully when the color is dry by overgraining. The 
same color used to grain the work will do for overgraining 
it, or by adding a little black and thinning with spirits of 
turpentine and japan for inside work, and japan and oil for 
outside work where it is not to be varnished. 

Ash may be grained in distemper by using stale beer or 
vinegar for thinners and the colors dry or ground in distem- 
per. The effedt of combing may be obtained by using an 
overgrainer. Where hearts are to be introduced, the work 
should be lightly stippled with a badger blender; and when 
dry, the wet rag or sponge may be used to wipe out the 
color preparatory to putting in the hearts with the fitch 
tool; this makes a fair job, and is the way followed by many 
in representing ash. The work looks fully as well, and I 
think cleaner, if the hearts are put in on the stippling with- 
out using a rag or sponge; do not stipple the work too 
heavily. 

In matching Western ash a little blue sometimes helps 
to counteradl the redness of the umber, and will be found to 
match the dull-gray shade often seen better than black, but 
ash is of so many varieties and colors as to allow the use of 
a wide range of colors. 

In matching ash the filling of wood has to be taken into 
consideration. The filling used by the average painter is 
often anything but what it should be, and the beauty of 
many an ash door has been destroyed by the miserable at- 
tempts at filling often perpetrated by some ignorant painter. 
This is applicable also to other woods; but particularly to 
ash. 




FLAKED OR QUARTERED DARK OAK, SHADED. 




HEART OF LIGHT ASH, WIPED OUT. 




HEART OF LIGHT ASH. WIPED OUT, SHADED. 



Plate 14. 




HEART OF ASH, DARK, PENCILLED. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



19 




CHAPTER V. 

HUNGARIAN ASH. 

WOOD may be imitated in oil or 
water color, but the imitation is 
commonly done in oil. The colors 
used are raw sienna and raw and burnt 
umber; a little burnt sienna may be add- 
ed to the shading color. In oil color the 
outline of the work is wiped out with a 
soft cotton rag and softened lightly, or 
even stippled with the dry brush, and 
after the color is nearly dry the lines be- 
tween those wiped out with the rag are 
gone over with the fitch tool, the color being darkened with 
umber. The idea is to bring the wiped work into sharper 
relief When dry, the shadows may be put in by using 
either oil or water color and blending softly. A little Van- 
dyke brown will deepen the color, or thin asphaltum may be 
used in shading or overgraining. Where circumstances re- 
quire the work to be finished without overgraining, the 
work may be mottled or shaded in water color on the 
ground-work before the oil color is applied, and in that 
case the work must be put in to suit the shadows and the 
lights that appear through the oil color. 

Hungarian ash varies from very bold to very fine grains, 
and the finer varieties may successfully be done in oil color, 
using the fitch tool to put in the grains and wiping out sim- 
ply the lights and the shadows with the rag. The work 
looks better when lightly stippled in water color with the 
blender. In doing the work wholly in water colors, the 
lights and the shadows are first put in, and after these are 
dry the grains are introduced with the small fitch tool, lift- 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



ing the edge of the color Hghtly with the blender. An ash 
door with the panels done in Hungarian ash make a very- 
neat job if nicely performed. 

BURL ASH. 

Burl ash, or root of ash, is often used in panels, and 
can be imitated in either oil color or water color, but water 
color will be found the best. The colors used are raw 
sienna, burnt umber and Vandyke brown; a sponge with 
rather small holes is requisite for use in represently the min- 
ute clusters of knots. After the work is rubbed in, the 
sponge (which has previously been faced square on one side) 
is dipped in some of the darker color and lightly pressed 
against the work. It is better to use the color a little darker 
than that with which the work has been rubbed in, and to 
put it where you wish the darker portions of the wood to 
appear. After this is dry go over the whole panel with the 
sponge and some of the darkest color, lightly pressing the 
sponge against the work wherever you desire the knots to 
appear. A little growth is sometimes put in by the use of 
the fitch tool, and tends to relieve the sameness of the work; 
it must be done carefully and on a small scale. When the 
work is dry, carefully pass the hand over it and remove the 
superfluous color which adheres, and the job is then ready 
to be varnished. It is sometimes shaded after having one 
coat of varnish, in which case it is necessary to revamish it; 
it will require little or no stippling. 

In imitating this wood in oil color, the work is first 
rubbed in and but little color is put on — merely enough to 
cover the ground- work with a very thin coat; a sponge may 
then be used to apply the darker color. The sponge should 
first be thoroughly wet in clean water and wrung out dry 
before the oil color is applied by it. Have some of the dark 
color in a shallow vessel and use the sponge as diredted in 
water color, dipping the faced side of the sponge in the 
color and representing the clusters of knots in this manner. 




HUNGARIAN ASH, WIPED OUT AND PENCILLED. 




BURL ASH. IN WATER COLOR. 



Plate 17. 




DARK ASH, PENCILLED AND COMBED. 




HUNGARIAN ASH, WIPED OUT. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



When dry, it may be overgrained or not, according to the 
shade desired or to the wood to be matched. 



CHAPTER VI. 

CHESTNUT. 




WOOD is not frequently used 
'« as an interior finish, but six- 
j teen years ago it was almost 
the only hardwood used for 
interior finish in the New England 
States; and any grainer who suc- 
ceeded in matching it was consid- 
ered very skilful. It is a highly- 
porous wood, and on that account 
is undesirable, as, if not entirely 
protecfled from the changes in tem- 
perature by being thoroughly filled, 
it will warp or swell; and I have 
seen doors concave or convex 
as much as three inches in a two 
foot eight inch door. It also turns very dark with age, and 
its hearts or prominent grains are very coarse. I have seen 
specimens which measured eighteen inches from point to 
point at the heart. The colors used are raw sienna, burnt 
umber, Vandyke brown and a little burnt sienna. There is 
some resemblance to ash in the finer growth of chestnut, 
but its general charadleristics are more angular — that is, the 
hearts run more to points than those of ash — and in most of 
the hearts a faint outline appears between the points. The 
combing also is much coarser than that meant for ash. 
Chestnut can be done in either oil or water color. I think 
it can be done best in oil, using the rag to wipe out the color 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



anfl combing in the edges of the hearts with a rubber comb 
covered with a thin piece of rag. This comb should not be 
over two inches in width, and the teeth should be about five 
to the inch. When the hearts are wiped out and lightly 
blended, the 6ne outline may be put in between the points 
in the hearts by using a sharp-pointed stick or the round 
corner of a steel comb. The work, when dry, may be 
lightly stippled in distemper, or a thin glaze of color with- 
out stippling may be applied to bring the work to the de- 
sired depth of color; this shading-color may be mixed in oil 
or water color. 

In imitating this wood in water color the work should 
first be stippled in very fine and allowed to dry; then put in 
the growths with the small fitch tool, and use the overgain- 
er for the same purpose as that for which the comb is used 
in oil color to follow the edges of the hearts, and to produce 
the "combed" work; a piped bristle over-grainer will be 
found useful for this purpose. 

bird's-eye maple. 

To my mind, this is the most beautiful of our native 
woods, and it is a shame that it is often cut down for fire- 
wood; however, it seems to be growing in favor among 
the furniture-makers, and is far more generally used in the 
interior of horse-cars and railway-cars than it was ten years 
ago. The colors used in representing maple are raw sienna, 
raw umber, a little Vandyke brown or ivory black and a lit- 
tle burnt sienna, to be added to the color when over-grain- 
ing or putting in the pencil-work and the eyes. 

This wood is almost invariably imitated in water color, 
as oil is too slow in drying to be used with any success. Stale 
beer is the best vehicle with which to apply the color. The 
implements needed are a good sponge, a piece of soft cotton 
rag or chamois leather, a brush to apply the color, a large 
and a small mottler or cut tool, a badger blender, an over- 
grainer and fitch tool, and a camel' s-hair pencil. First 



Plate 1$ 




BIRD'S-EYE MAPLE, OVERGRAINED. 




CHESTNUT. 




5IRD'S-EYE MAPLE, MOTTLED, READY FOR THE EYES. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 23 

dampen the ground-work over with the sponge, which has 
been wrung out of clean water, or of beer and water; then rub 
in the color, doing a panel or a small piece at a time, and 
while wet wipe out the high lights and put in the shadows 
with the sponge or the mottler or the backs of the fingers, 
or draw the color up into small bunches or clusters with the 
blender or mottler and blend lightly crosswise. When the 
lights and the shadows are dry, the eyes are put in. By 
observing the real wood it will be found that the eyes in- 
variably appear in the darker portions of the grain, and 
that the shadows seem to slope away from them. Very oft- 
en the shadows all slant one way and the eyes in the same 
way; this must be taken into consideration in imitating ma- 
ple. Do not have all the eyes and all the shadows slanting 
the same way in diflferent panels, as is often seen in the in- 
terior of cars, but reverse the style, bringing the opposite 
panels to balance with each other. 

The best manner of imitating the eyes is a matter of 
doubt among pradlical workmen The amateur grainer will 
tell you that he can put them in by striking the ends of his 
fingers against the color while wet; this is the way the wood 
is most frequently misrepresented, and such work looks fee- 
ble compared with that done by either of the following 
methods: After the lights and shadows are dry take some 
of the dark color from the bottom of your pot and add to it 
a little burnt sienna; the color should be put in a shallow 
vessel, such as a saucer. Thin the color, so that it works 
freely; then take a medium sized camel' s-hair pencil which 
has been ' ' docked ' ' by cutting oflF the hair about one- 
quarter of an inch from the quill with a sharp knife, leaving 
the ends of the hair perfedlly square. Then burn out the 
centre of the brush with a red-hot wire, leaving the hair 
round the circumference with which to represent the "eyes." 
The pencil is then dipped in the darker color, and the eyes 
are put in where desired. 

Another way is to cut a piece from a block of soft rub- 



24 PRACTICAL GRAINING. 

ber, make a hole through it and with a sharp knife trim the 
edges of the rubber till it can be used to take up the dark 
color. Make the eyes in the same manner as with the pen- 
cil brush. The eyes can be put in with a small pencil by 
describing circles, but care must be taken to have them of 
uniform size, or nearly so. Another — and probably the best 
— way is to take a thin piece of chamois leather or a soft 
piece of cotton rag and wet it in the graining-color; then 
take a piece of wood f®ur or five inches long and not over 
half an inch thick; whittle it round and taper it to a point 
at one end; then wrap the rag or the leather around the 
stick, keeping a folded edge at the sharp end of the stick; 
and when the cloth or leather has made one circuit around 
the stick at the sharp end, wind it farther up the stick, so 
that only one circle of the folded rag or leather is at the 
sharp end of the stick. Some of the thick color may then 
be placed in about the middle of the rag, and by keeping 
the rag or the leather well wet above the thick color and 
squeezing the rag as often as necessary, so that the color 
descends toward the point of the stick, the eyes may be rap- 
idly and accurately put in by striking the end of the folded 
rag or leather against the work; and a pair of panels may 
easily be done by once filling the rag with color. This 
method has the advantage of making any sized "eye," 
from the largest to the smallest, by simply altering the 
thickness of the folds; or the eyes may be made in any shape 
desired, from a circle to an oval. After the eyes are put in 
the work is over-grained, the color mostly being burnt 
sienna. The heart grains are put in with a camel' s-hair 
pencil. Some grainers use a crayon pencil for this purpose, 
which should be soaked in beer or vinegar and used moist; 
the various over-grainers are also used in putting in the 
heart grains. The "eyes" should always be noticed — that 
is, the over-grainer should describe some part of a circle in 
passing the "eyes," so as to have them in harmony with 
the general features of the wood. All water-color work 



A-.*«>: 







BIRD'S— EYE MAPLE WITH THE EYES. 



Plate 23. 




CHESTNUT. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



should be lightly gone over when dry with the hand, to re- 
move any roughness in the graining-color. Some grainers 
prefer to touch up the high lights around the " eyes" with 
some of the ground color after the graining is dry, but it 
must be done very carefully or it shows badly. 

CURI.Y OR ROCK MAPLK. 

This wood somewhat resembles bird's-eye maple, and is 
often used in the same piece of furniture. It differs from 
bird's-eye in having but few, if any, " eyes" in it, and is 
mostly mottled and over-grained. A five-inch mottler that 
will cover the stiles of an ordinary door is a very necessary 
tool, as one that is not wide enough necessitates going over 
the work twice, and then it will not look so well as if done 
with a brush of sufficient width to cover the whole stile. 
The colors used for bird's-eye maple will answer for this 
wood, but the general tone is darker. 

SII.VER MAPI^E. 

This wood is represented by using ivory black for the 
graining-color; the groundwork should be almost white. 
The work is mostly mottled and very lightly over-grained. 
Eyes are sometimes put in, and the effect of the work is 
very showy when carefully done. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 




CHAPTER VII. 

SATINWOOD. 



IS a very delicate wood, of the 
maple family; it probably derives 
its name from its resemblance to 
folds of satin. It is seldom re- 
presented in America, but is frequently 
imitated in England, being used in 
connection with maple in some of the 
principal rooms, such as drawing- 
rooms, parlors, etc. The panels of the 
room are done as satinwood, the stiles 
as maple, and sometimes the mouldings as a darker wood, 
such as dark oak, walnut or rosewood. 

The same groundwork and the same graining-colors 
may be used as in representing maple, but a little ivory 
black may be added. The tools are similar, but a piece of 
buckskin or chamois leather is substituted for the bristle 
mottlers used for maple. A roll of oil-putty is sometimes 
used to take off the color in making the high lights; the 
putty should be rolled along the panel lengthwise of the 
grain, and then the panel blended crosswise. Care should 
be taken to have the graining-color light, as the effect is 
lost if the color be too dark. The lights are quite prominent, 
and it requires no little skill successfully to imitate them. 
When the mottling or lights and shadows are dry, they 
may be very lightly over-grained with a fine bristle over- 
grainer, the bristles being separated by a comb and the 
color used very thin. The over-graining should not be 
blended, as it will look too prominent and spoil the efifect 
of the lights and the shadows. A piece of soft cotton rag 




SATINWOOD MOTTLED. 



Plate 25. 




SATINWOOD MOTTLED AND OVERGRAiNED, 



Plate 26. 




CURLY MAPLE MOTTLED TO OVERGRAIN. 




CURLY MAPLE OVERCRAINED. 




POLLARD OAK. 




POLLARD OAK. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



will answer the same purpose as the buckskin or 
chamois leather. When using either of them with the in- 
tention of making the mottled eflfect of the wood, first wet 
them in clean water or in beer and wring them out nearly 
dry; then, after the color is rubbed on the work, roll them 
over them over the surface as directed. The result will be 
that the leather or the rag will take ofif the patches of the wet 
graining-color. Then blend softly, and when dry over- 
grain. 



CHAPTER VIII 



POLLARD OAK. 




'HIS wood is a great favorite with 
British grainers, and is often 
splendidly imitated by them. 
The wood itself is from old 
gnarled trees or stumps and has 
a variety of grain almost equal 
to French walnut. It may be 
represented in either oil or water 
color, or may be done partially 
in both distemper and oil, which 
I think is the better way; the 
best job I have ever seen was 
executed in this manner. It is 
first done in oil; the colors neces- 
sary are raw and burnt sienna, burnt umber, Vandyke 
brown, and sometimes a little ivory black or ultramarine 
blue. The wood varies from pieces comparatively free from 
knots to others almost filled with them, like the root of 
walnut, etc. The grains are first done in oil, the knots, 
etc., being somewhat subdued; and when this is dry, the 
whole is gone over in water color and left in the color it is 
intended to have it remain. The knots and shadows are 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



touched up, etc. After the water color is dry the fine 
champs may be put in by using a sHce of raw potato in the 
same manner as that in which the thumb-nail is used on 
larger work. A camel's-hair pencil is needed properly to 
finish the work. A great deal of time may be spent in rep- 
resenting this wood, and yet but few may succeed in faith- 
fully imitating it. Since the fashion has changed in Boston 
and its vicinity from walnut and cherry front-doors to oak 
doors, we begin to see panels of pollard oak; sometimes 
whole doors ar» veneered with it, and the efifect is superb. 



This wood is naturally but little darker than ash, yet 
the popular idea of what its hue should be is of a color 
nearly as dark as that of mahogany. Cherry is frequently 
misrepresented by staining whitewood or pine with burnt 
sienna, etc. , but, it being impossible to conceal the grain of 
the whitewood or the pine, the deception is easily discoverable 
by any one at all familiar with the grains of difierent woods. 
For this reason a much better imitation can be obtained by 
graining to imitate cherry (or any other wood), rather than 
by staining, as the grainer, if competent, can represent both 
the color and the grain of the desired wood. 

Cherry may be imitated in either oil color or water 
color, and an excellent job can be done either way. My 
preference is for oil color. The natural wood may be 
matched by employing raw and burnt sienna and raw umber, 
but the stained cherry requires the use of burnt sienna, 
burnt umber and Vandyke brown for the very dark veins, 
also, in some cases, crimson lake, to be used as a glazing or 
shading-color. The tools needed for oil color are the flat 
brush, combs, fitch tool or fresco-liner, sash tool and a piped 
bristle overgrainer. When a piece of work is rubbed in, it 
may lightly be stippled with the dry brush (or the stippling 
may first be done in distemper before the oil color is applied). 
It may be mottled by wiping off the color with a rag, or by 



Plate 30. 




CHERRy MOTTLED IN OIL BEFORE BEING OVERGRAINED. 



CHERRY MOTTLED AND PENCILLED IN OIL. 



Plate 32. 




CHERRY MOTTLED AND PENCILLED IN OIL. 




CHERRY MOTTLED AND PENCILLED IN OIL AS FINISHED. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



applying a little color with the sash tool and lifting the 
color with the flat brush. The growth may then be put in 
with the fitch tool, the flat brush being used as a blender* 
The growths are put in across the mottled work previously 
done. The growths or hearts can also be wiped out with 
the rag in the same manner as in imitating ash, and the 
fitch used to interline the points of the hearts; but the 
growth of cherry is seldom as bold as that of ash, and, to 
my mind, it can best be imitated by the use of the fitch tool. 
Where the hearts have been wiped out with the rag they 
should always be gone over with the fitch tool and blended, 
as the effect is decidedly better than if they are left without 
pencilling. 

Some grainers prefer to imitate cherry wholly in dis- 
temper, in which case the tools used are much the same as 
those for oil, substituting the badger blender for the flat 
brush in finishing the work. First dampen the work with 
a sponge and rub in the color with a flat brush; the mottled 
parts may be done light^ with the sponge, or dark by using 
the mottler or the sash tool. The hearts are put in with the 
fitch after the mottling is dry, the overgrainer being used in 
same manner as that in which the combs are used in oil 
color. The best vehicle for the distemper color is stale beer; 
it may be diluted with one-half water, and in cold weather 
a little alcohol may be added. The work may be shaded or 
overgrained when dry, whether the graining has been done 
in oil or in distemper. If done in oil, the shading color 
may be applied in either oil or distemper; but if the work 
has been grained in distemper, the shading color (if applied 
immediately to the work before varnishing) must be in oil. 
In some cases the distemper color is varnished before being 
overgrained; this, of course, necessitates revarnishing. 

The grains of cherry are apparently simple, but they 
will stand a large amount of study, and good work is seldom 
done without taking pains to represent the various charac- 
teristics of this at present fashionable wood. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



Sometimes glue size is used in the color for a distemper 
binder, but, being of animal matter, it is seldom used by 
grainers. With the addition of alcohol enough to make it 
smell strong, it passes for white shellac among some cheap 
painters, and is used for first coats or stain work. It will 
be found that the mottlings of cherry invariably run across 
the grain, and this is the chief reason that stained white- 
wood makes such a poor imitation, the reverse being the 
rule for whitewood. 

One thing I wish to impress upon beginners: that is 
to keep the color as nearly as possible like that of the 
natural wood, and to cater as little as possible to the pre- 
vailing fashion of making the color of cherry as dark as 
that of mahogany. If people want a mahogany color, try 
and induce them to have also a mahogany grain. I know 
that frequently some article of furniture made of stained 
cherry has to be matched in color in graining a room, and 
in such cases there is no resource but to imitate it. I once 
went to grain a chamber in imitation of cherry, and the 
lady of the house requested me to observe the color of her 
mahogany chamber-set, which color she desired to have on 
the woodwork of the room. I found the "mahogany" to 
be cherry and whitewood stained very deep, and so inform- 
ed her. It was a perfectly new set, and had been sold to 
her for mahogany by a respectable firm. I should judge it 
to be worth ona hundred dollars, so there is evidently 
" cheating in all trades but ours." 

The piped overgrainer for use in oil color will be found 
an excellent help, both for continuing the lines of the 
pencilled work, and for doing the straight or mottled comb- 
ing so often observed in the natural wood. 




CHERRY WIPED OUT AND PENCILLED IN OIL. 



Plate 35. 




WALNUT STIPPLE. 



Plate 36. 




BLACK WALNUT PENCILLED. 




WALNUT WIPED OUT AND PENCILLED. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



31 




CHAPTER IX. 

I.ACK WALNUT. 

WOOD was very fashionable as 

an interior finish not very long 

ago, but its place is now largely 

occupied by cherry, mahogany 

and oak, and I think the change 

is for the better; for unless a 

room is well lighted, the effoct of the deep, 

color of walnut is rather sombre and the 

■ r-' grains have less light and shade and tess 

■V variety than those of oak or cherry. It can 

H be imitated in either oil or distemper. The same 

P tools are used as for ash. The piped bristle over- 

grainer is an excellent help for both oil and 

water color. The graining color is composed mostly of 

burnt umber, Vandyke brown being added for the darker 

portions of the work. 

In my opinion, the best way to imitate walnut is first to 
stipple it with a thin mixture of Vandyke brown in distem- 
per, using nothing but beer for thinner. When this is dry, 
rub in the oil color and wipe out the hearts with the rag in 
the same way as for oak and ash. Care must be taken not 
to add much water to the stippling color, or the stippling 
will be wiped off when the rag is used over it. When the 
hearts have been wiped out, the fitch tool may be used to 
sharpen up the edges of the growths and the whole lightly 
blended with the dry flat brush. The hearts can also be put 
in by using the fitch tool, or by mottling or wiping oflf the 
color slightly with the rag and then using the fitch tool as 
directed, the edges of the color being slightly lifted with 
the dry flat brush. 

Some grainers prefer to use water color rather than oil. 



PRAC7TCAL GRAINING. 



and do their work wholly in distemper. The same kit of 
tools is used as for cherry in distemper — viz., sponge, flat 
brush, sash tool, fitch tool, blender and overgrainer, either 
piped or plain. First stipple in the work slightly darker 
than if it were to be gone over in oil, and then put in the 
grains with a fitch tool and the overgrainer. Care must be 
taken in blending the hearts after pencilling, or the grain- 
ing-color will lift off and show the ground-color. 
Oil color is sometimes used to pencil in the hearts, 
as it will not lift the stippling, no matter how much 
it is blended. A camel' s-hair pencil is sometimes used to 
finish the points of the hearts. Care should be taken to 
have all the mitres and joints cleanly cut, and slightly to 
vary the color of the diSerent portions of the work, so as to 
avoid sameness. The work may be shaded or overgrained 
aft^r it is dry, but it is generally finished at once. For a 
quick job, done wholly in oil, rub in the work rather dry and 
stipple with the flat brush; then put in the hearts with the 
fitch tool and blend. Use the bristle piped overgrainer for 
portions of the work. By using the finer steel combs 
covered with cotton rag and stippling the work, when 
combed, with the dry brush, a very fair imitation is ob- 
tained. 



CHAPTER X. 

FRENCH WALNUT BURL. 

VARIETY of walnut comes from 
France, although fair burls come 
from Spain and Italy. A large por- 
tion of the alleged French walnut 
is merely the root of the American 
walnut, but the best specimens of 
burl come from France and have not as yet been grown in 
this country. The finest burl is cut from the excrescences 
or bunches which appear on the trunk of the tree, and is 




Plate 38. 




CURLY WALNUT. 




FRECH WALNUT BURL. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



quite expensive. It is most frequently used for small panels 
on furniture, and is not generally used for house-work. 
Gunstocks are sometimes made from it, and such are very 
beautiful. 

French walnut is probably imitated in a dijGTerent man- 
ner in every State in the Union; hence the manner herein 
described may appear wholly wrong to some grainers. But 
if we succeed in matching the wood, the manner of doing 
the work is seldom called in question. There are several 
"patent" processes for imitating this wood, exclusive of 
the transfer roller. 

I was informed some years ago by an agent who 
possessed the secret of the best way in which to grain French 
walnut that after two lessons in his process anybody could 
perfectly match the wood; he did not succeed in selling me 
the great (?) secret. Yet there are processes other than the 
ones here given which for certain kinds of work are excel- 
lent, but they are seldom used by grainers to the trade. In 
England the burl is seldom imitated, English imitations be- 
ing mostly confined to the curly or wavy portions of the 
grain. 

French walnut may be represented in either oil or dis- 
temper by being partially done in oil and finished in distem- 
per, or vice versd. The tools are the same as those used for 
black walnut, as are also the colors — burnt umber and Van- 
dyke brown. For the very light portions a little burnt 
sienna may be added to the color. When the work is to be 
done in oil, rub in the color rather dry, and with the sash 
tool dipped in some dark color cover such portions of the 
work as you wish to appear dark; then take a piece of soft 
cotton rag and remove the color where the light places are 
to appear, and work up the dark places with the rag until 
the desired effect is obtained; then blend lightly with the 
dry brush, and with the fitch tool add lines and curves, or 
knots if desired, constantly keeping the grain of the wood 
in mind and striving to represent it. Blend lightly with the 



34 PRACTICAL GRAINING. 

dry brush and stipple the light places with the flat brush (or 
the slipping may be done in distemper on the ground-work 
before the oil color is applied). When the oil color is dry, 
the work may be shaded or overgrained in either oil or water 
color. 

The other method in ordinary use among grainers is to 
do the work wholly in distemper, and for work that is not 
too complicated this method is undoubtedly the best. The 
mode of procedure is much the same as for oil color, u.sing 
the sponge to make the lighter parts, and darkening the 
work with the sash tool, making the settled places prepar- 
atory to overgraining. If done in this manner, the work 
will be gone over two or three times in an hour, which is 
quite an advantage, as, if the work is first done in oil, it 
must be allowed time to dry before being shaded; but for 
intricate work the grain may be done equally well in oil 
color if it is overgrained when dry. 

This wood is not of sufficient size to be used on large 
surfaces without being jointed; hence it is not in good taste 
to imitate it on a very large scale. Its use is more properly 
confined to small panels and to interior rather than to ex- 
terior work. It is a very rare occurrence to find a specimen 
of the real wood exposed to the weather as, being but a thin 
veneer, it would be quickly aifected by the extreme changes 
of temperature to which it would be subjected. 

In conclusion, the only waj' to become expert in imitat- 
ing French walnut is to strive to copy the grains of the real 
wood; and no wood is more often misrepresented than is 
French walnut. 



Plate 40. 




MAHOGANY STRAIGHT. 




MAHOGANY MOTTLED. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



CHAPTER XI. 



MAHOGANY. 




WOOD was a great favorite with 
the grainers of the last generation, 
and it is at present coming back to 
old-time popularity. The old Hon- 
duras ' ' feathered ' ' mahogany is 
rarely seen except in old furniture, 
and this kind of graining is seldom 
called for nowadays. The modern 
mahogany is more straight-grained, 
and is generally much lighter in 
color, but the furniture manufactur- 
ers do not hesitate to stain the wood to any depth of color, 
and thus they set the pattern which the grainer must follow 
as regards the color. It is represented in both oil and 
water color, or by being partly done both ways, as in the 
case of walnut. The colors used are burnt sienna, burnt 
umber and Vandyke brown, with crimson lake for over- 
graining on particularly bright work. The tools used are 
the same as those for walnut. No better way to imitate it 
will be found than first to stipple it with a thin wash of Van- 
dyke brown in beer, much the same as for walnut, but using 
the flat side of the stippler or blender more than the tip, as 
the pores of the wood are generally longer than those of 
walnut. After the stippling is dry rub in the oil color, 
which is composed of about three-fourths burnt sienna to one- 
fourth burnt umber, or a little Vandyke brown may be added 
to the color. The dark veins are put in with the sash tool 
dipped in a little clear Vandyke brown, which should be 
mixed in a separate vessel and thinned mostly with driers, 
as Vandyke brown is a very slow drier. The work is then 
gone over with a soft cotton rag, and the color is removed 



36 PRACTICAL GRAINING. 

where the lighter grains are to appear; the rag is also used 
to soften the edges of the darker streaks and to blend them 
into the lighter grains. The lights and shadows are made, 
and the whole is then lightly blended crosswise. The bristle 
overgrainer of the fitch tool is used to put in the finer 
grains, or this may be done when the oil color is dry. This 
is the manner in which the modern straight mahogany is 
most frequently imitated, but it can wholly be done in water 
color, using the sponge for the same purpose as the rag is 
used in oil. 

The "feather" mahogany is best represented in water 
color. The centre of the feather is darkened with Vandyke 
brown, and the mottler or sponge is used to make the 
darker curves which radiate from the centre of the " feather;" 
then with a thin piece of stick or a piece of cardboard make 
the bright blaze marks that are usually seen through the 
centre of the feather. A small mottler or cut tool may be 
used for this purpose. The markings radiate from the 
centre outward in a curved line and across the darker veins; 
allow this to dry, and then lightly overgrain to bring out 
the effect, touching up the parts that are to appear very 
dark. After this is dry the hand should lightly be passed 
over the work to remove any surplus color, as one coat of 
varnish sometimes fails to lay out on water-color work where 
the graining-color has freely been used. This applies to 
walnut and rosewood in distemper as well as to mahogany. 
The wood is sometimes represented in oil without first 
stippling, but it never looks so well. Of course the stip- 
pling may be done after the work is dry, but it makes a 
better appearance if done before the rubbing with oil. If 
it is desired to overgrain, the work, if done in oil, should be 
shaded in distemper, and vice versa. For depth and bright- 
ness, add crimson lake with a little Vandyke brown. 



Plate 42. 




MAHOGANY FEATHERED. 




ROSEWOOD AS OUTLINED TO OVERGRAIN. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 




CHAPTER XII. 

ROSEWOOD. 

WOOD is seldom imitated in this 
country except on piano-legs and 
caskets or coffins, and then it is done 
in stain on the wood without first being 
painted. Whitewood is given two coats 
of logwood stain, and after that is dry the 
grains are put in with a bamboo brush, 
which is made by beating the pulp out of 
the ends of short strips of bamboo, leav- 
ing the harder portions of the wood^ 
which act as bristles for applying the 
graining-color. Four or five strips of bamboo an inch or 
more wide are fastened together with wire, so that their 
edges interlock at the point of the brush; the brush is then 
dipped in the graining color, which consists of iron-filings 
dissolved in vinegar. The surplus color is shaken out of 
the brush, and the grains are put in in the same manner 
as that in which an overgrainer is used in water-color. The 
darker veins are added with a sponge after the finer grains 
are put in, and the work after being grained is generally 
filled with rose-pink. This process can be used only on new 
surfaces, and is of little value to the grainer to the trade. 

The ordinary way of imitating rosewood is to do it in 
water color, although it may be done in oil. I prefer to do 
it in distemper, as the work can more quickly be finished in 
this way. The colors used are Vandyke brown, ivory black 
and rose pink. The basis of the color is Vandyke brown 
and a little black added to it. The ivory black and the 
rose pink are mixed separately, and applied to the work as 
desired while the color is wet, carefully blending where 



38 PRACTICAL GRAINING. 

necessary. The rose-pink is first streaked through the 
color and blended; then the sponge is used to remove the 
color and make the lighter shades. The black veins are 
then put in, and after the whole is dry the overgrainer and 
the fitch tool are used to put in the fine grains. L,ast of all, 
the edges of the dark veins are sharpened with the fitch 
tool, using thin black for this purpose; this final application 
of black may be done in oil. Care must be taken not to 
take too much black, or the effect will be too sombre. The 
natural wood is almost invariably darkened by being stain- 
ed as we see it on pianos, and its beauties are obscured by 
so doing. When the water color is finished and &ty, the 
hand should be lightly passed across the work to remove 
any surplus color that may not thoroughly adhere, as, if 
not removed, it works up into the varnish, or the varnish 
strikes in where the graining-color is thick; and for this 
reason two coats of varnish are better than one coat on 
any dark wood that has been done wholly in water color. 

In operating entirely with oil the tools are much the 
same as those used for water color; the bristle piped over- 
grainer is best for oil color. The work is done in much the 
same manner as with water color, using the rag where the 
color is to be lightened, with a little more spirits of turpen- 
tine and japan in the color than ordinarily. 

The grains of rosewood are not easily copied. The 
wood exhibits a variety of grain second onlj'- to oak, and I 
think that, after oak, it is the most difficult wood to imitate, 
as to do it justice requires the free treatment which can be 
given only by a trained hand and a correct eye. The 
average veins are free and graceful without being set or con- 
strained, and the grains are constantly interlocking and 
branching ofi" from the main hearts. 

CYPRESS-WOOD 

has but recently appeared in this country as an interior 
finish. It is a very soft and porous wood, and is a good 




ROSEWOOD AS FINISHED. 




CYPRESS IN OIL. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 39 

kind to keep out of a house, owing to its liability to shrink and 
swell, but occasionally we find rooms finished with it, with the 
exception of the doors, which the grainer is called upon to 
match. I am informed that cypress trees have to be girdled in 
the spring and killed, so that they contain but little sap when 
cut in the fall, as, if cut green, they would sink in the water 
before they could be floated to the mill. This shows how 
ill suited this wood is for an interior finish. 

The grain of cypress somewhat resembles that of hard 
pine, but is broader in the heart and finer-grained; it also 
presents more contrast between the light and dark portions 
of the growth. The ground is slightly darker and more 
yellow than that used for oak. The graining-color is made 
of raw and burnt sienna and burnt umber, and is mixed in 
oil. When the color is rubbed in, the hearts are wiped out 
in the usual manner. A rubber comb can be used to make 
portions of the heart by occasionally using it in the finer 
portions of the wiped-out hearts, taking care that the lines 
made by the comb closely follow tho.se made by hand, and 
that they are equally distinct, or the places where the comb 
has been used can readily be distinguished from the rest of 
the work, and they look very bad. There is but little use 
for the fitch tool in matching cj^press; the combing is 
mostly fine and rather straight. The steel combs should 
never be used over the lines made by the rubber comb. The 
work may be shaded with some of the graining-color to 
which some black has been added, and the whole thinned 
with spirits. It needs but a very thin glaze, and is ordina- 
rily finished without shading. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 




CHAPTER XIII. 

HARD PINE. 



ii 



WOOD is seldom imitated, 
and, although its grains are 
simple, they cannot be match- 
ed without taking pains. The 
grain of hard pine is in some 
respects different from that of any other 
wood; the growths are generally quite nar- 
row, and are not complicated, without hav- 
ing many knots, and are decidedly straight, 
as is also the combed work. The ground- 
work is much the same as that for oak, 
being slightly more yellow. The graining- 
color — which is mixed in oil — is composed of raw and 
burnt sienna, and a little burnt umber is added. The grains 
are put in by first using the rag to wipe out the hearts and 
then pencilling in the grain, or for the lighter parts of the 
grain the pencilling may be omitted. The combing is done 
with moderately fine combs. Never go over the same 
place twice, as the grains of pine are always straight and never 
interlock, like those of oak. The work should lightly be 
blended lengthwise. The color used to pencil in the growths 
should be darker than that with which the work is rubbed 
in, and the blending should always be done toward the out- 
side edge of the grain. When the work is dry it may 
lightly be shaded to give it depth, or slightly mottled- 
Some pieces of hard pine are profusely mottled, and I have 
seen specimens that had the appearance of fine Hungarian 
ash. 

WHITEWOOD. 

It is seldom necessary to imitate whitewood, as the 
original is so cheap, and because there is as much diflficulty 



jsm 




f \ \ 



4 



HARD PINE. 



Plate 4-7. 




WHITEWOOD IN OIL. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



in matching the color of the wood as that of the grains. The 
ground-color is about the same as that for light ash, and the 
graining-color can be mixed with raw sienna and raw umber, 
adding black or blue; or yellow ochre can be used for the 
basis of the color, adding raw umber and a little black for 
the dark streaks. The work is then put in with a fitch tool 
and blended softty, or a piece of pointed wood like a pencil 
may be used, the point being covered with a thin cotton 
rag, and the heart grains put in with this, taking care to 
have the grains subdued and not appearing prominent. 
The grains of whitewood generally appear sunken; they are 
simply outlined, and not softened with the rag. 

Whitewood sometimes assumes a blistered appearance 
peculiar to itself and somewhat like the grain of Hungarian 
ash. This kind of whitewood is very difficult to imitate, as 
the high lights are so strong and brilliant as to require 
touching up with the ground-color after the work is dry. 
This kind is seldom imitated. 



42 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



CHAPTER XIV. 




VARNISHING OVER GRAINED WORK. 



A JOB of graining is finish- 
ed; if it is deemed necessary 
to varnish it, the question 
arises, "What kind of var- 
nish shall be used?" and this is 
a subject on which widely differ- 
ent opinions prevail. Almost 
every master painter has his 
favorite kind of varnish and is 
slow to accept anything con- 
trary to his own idea of what 
should be used; and right here I 
will say that if you have something that, like the joke of 
the clown in the circus, has withstood the test of time, do 
not look farther, but " hold fast to that which is good." 

There are many kinds of varnishes and finishes made 
especially for application to exposed work, outside doors, 
etc., but my experience with many of them has been any- 
thing but satisfactory. There may be some particular kind 
of varnish that will stand exposure in this climate without 
cracking or turning white, but I have never seen any such. 
I would like to find some article that will withstand the 
changes of temperature to which it would be subjected in 
the New England climate — say one hundred and twenty to 
one hundred and thirty degrees annually — and I do not ex- 
pect ever to find any such, as, when the varnish has been 
applied to exposed work and the gum has become thorough- 
ly hardened, cracking will of necessity ensue, for the reason 
that heat causes the expansion of the material to which the 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 43 

varnish is applied, and, the varnish being thoroughly 
hardened, so that it cannot expand, it must crack in 
obedience to the law of nature that heat expands. Crack- 
ing may result from inability to contract after having 
expanded from heat. This is allowing for no internal com- 
plications in the varnish, and what is written above wholly 
applies to varnish that is exposed to the weather, and is 
based on what seems to be practical experience. 

I am living in a house that is grained in oil on the out- 
side; the clapboards and trimmings on the southwest side 
were chosen for testing the varnish. To prevent any mis- 
understanding, I will state the manner in which the work 
was done. The clapboards are No. i spruce, the trimmings 
are pine and cypress. The carpentry work was done in 
July, 1886, and stood three days before being primed. The 
priming color was mixed as follows : — One hundred pounds 
of white lead, to which were added about twenty-five pounds 
of yellow ochre, a, small quantity of japan drier, and thinned 
with best raw linseed oil. After being primed for two weeks, 
the work was grounded, using the priming color that was 
left, with enough lead added to make a groundwork for 
oak. The trimmings are done in cherry. The work was 
not grained until October, 1886, and neither wax nor any- 
thing else was used for megilp. The varnishes were nearly- 
all applied on the tenth day after the work was grained; the 
day was warm and bright, and each varnish was put on just 
as it came from the factory, without thinners of any kind. 
Each was poured into a clean vessel and a new brush was 
used, so as to give each kind of varnish an even chance; 
and the result is below stated. 

Seventeen kinds of varnishes, hardwood finishes, spar 
composition, etc., were applied as stated, and the result was 
highly disastrous, as, with two exceptions, they all cracked 
in less than twelve months. The two exceptions were, first^ 
a mixture of linseed oil two parts to japan drier one part; 
second, a preparation said to contain ninety per cent, of linseed 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



oil. This is the only thing on the side of the house to-day 
(February 29, 1888) that has any gloss; all the others except 
the oil and the drier are in various stages of imitation of 
alligator skin, or they have cracked so minutely as wholly 
to destroy the gloss. Some of the hardwood finishes 
cracked in twenty-eight days after being applied, and their 
makers claimed that they could be used on outside work 
without danger of cracking. The longest time that any 
varnish stood without cracking was slightly over eleven 
months, and that kind cost five dollars per gallon, and was 
sold for wearing body varnish.* I have some of these var- 
nishes and fini.shes applied to inside work, and at present 
they show no signs of cracking, but I am afraid that it will 
be only a question of time when they too will crack. For 
interior work I am in favor of using shellac over grained 
work in preference to varnish, and I have shellac applied to 
the doors of my rooms, the casings, etc., being finished with 
first-quality varnish; so that I will have an opportunity of 
observing their respective merits and durability. Shellac 
finish is less glaring than varnish, and has the advantage 
of drying quickly; so that it escapes the dust which is in- 
variably present in new buildings. It can be rubbed down, 
If necessary, in the same manner as hardwood, and where 
graining is done to match wood finished in shellac it makes 
the work look uniform. I have yet to see a job of new work 
that has cracked after being shellacked if properlj^ grounded. 
There are some of the old-fashioned varnishes that 
stand without cracking on inside work. One case I remem- 
ber where an office had been grained and varnished when 
the factory was built, and, so far as known, had been revar- 
nished but once for thirty-two years afterward. There was 
no sign of cracks in the varnish, and those people who pro- 
fess that the cause of cracking is due to wax in the grain - 

♦October, 1890.— The preparation containing 90 per cent, linseed oil cracked 
badly in fourteen months ; the oil and dryer cracked soon after, due, I presume, to 
gum in the japan. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



ing color would ,be surprised to see that the graining color 
in this case appeared to contain plenty of wax. 

Varnish may stand for a long time on inside work with- 
out cracking; but the reverse is the rule in my experience; 
for varnish that has been bought from the factory expressly 
for inside work, and for which a good price has been paid, 
has cracked in less than six months after being applied, and 
this was on new wood; so that there was apparently nothing 
to hasten its early decay. 

Some seven years ago I varnished a table-top which 
had been grained. I chose what a master carriage painter 
called one of the best makes of rubbing varnish, and ap- 
plied three coats to the table, rubbing it on the third day 
after each coat. It looked nicely when finished, but in less 
than four months it had cracked. The cracks finally be- 
came so deep that they were faced up with putty; and this 
was a solid walnut table-top which had been thoroughly 
planed off and shellacked before being painted and grained. 
This is but one of many instances which have led me al- 
together to discard varnish for any work I wish to preserve; 
and where interior work is not too much exposed to wear I 
prefer to leave it as grained in oil or to shellac it, and for 
exterior work to give it an occasional coat of oil and drier 
rather than to varnish it. 

I have not mentioned the names of the makers of the 
varnishes, but they were some of the representative makers 
of the country, and most of the labels expressly stated that 
the contents of the packages would not crack, blister or turn 
white. 

I hope that the experience of others has been more 
favorable than has mine, but we must speak of things as we 
find them. 



46 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 




CHAPTER XV. 

GRAINING CONSIDERED AS A FINE ART. 

—THAT is painting in imita- 
tion of wood or of marble — is 
"^ generally looked upon as a busi- 
ness branch of the house-painting 
which any competent painter is, or should be, 
able to do, but in reality we find that only 
about four or five men in each large city do all 
the best work in this line, and make a business 
of it, doing nothing else — "graining for the 
trade, " as it is called. One grainer will do the 
work of twenty or more paint-shops, and if he 
is a first-class workman, he will earn more than 
double the wages of an ordinary painter, and will find em- 
ployment all the year round. 

Now, any large city can boast of twenty to thirty 
artists — landscape, marine, portrait, etc. — whose work is 
praised and is accepted at art-galleries, and in some cases 
brings enormous prices at sales; but why is it that their 
work is lauded to the skies; when at best it is but an imita- 
tion of nature, and when an equally good imitation in an- 
other form is (as a rule) condemned by architects and 
critics as unworthy a place in artistic residences or in the 
more prominent rooms of such houses? Any person of 
ordinary intelligence can at a glance discover that an oil 
painting is a mere copy or representation of nature, but the 
grain of wood or of marble can be so closely imitated that 
it is impossible even for an expert to detect at a glance that 
it is counterfeit, and a close examination sometimes fails to 
reveal whether it is genuine or not. 

vSome people think that successfully to imitate the color 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



and the grain of any wood or any marble is as much of an 
art as is the representation of a landscape, for, while there 
are dozens of artists who can faithfully reproduce a land- 
scape on canvas, there are few who can make a pine door 
look like the oak or cherry jamb and casing that surround 
it, as first-class grainers often have to do, and do so well 
that not one person in a thousand could tell the real wood 
from the imitation. And not only is the wood imitated by 
such men, but mouldings, cornices, panels, etc., are so 
faithfully represented as to pass for such except on close in- 
spection. 

It is said that in order to become an artist one must be 
born with certain qualifications or he will fail to be success- 
ful: this is equally true in the case of the grainer; and 
some people think that in order to become a first-class 
grainer more gifts are required at birth than if the person 
were destined to become an artist, as the artist generallv 
has before him models or the original of his picture, while 
the grainer is supposed to imitate whatever kind of wood 
or marble is called for — in most cases, without any of the 
original before him and doing the work from recollection of 
the grain of the particular wood or marble he is imitating. 
While it is very true that the average imitation of wood or 
marble is poorly done, still the whole business should not be 
condemned, and any large city can furnish illustrations of 
the fact that graining is so well done as to deceive workers 
in wood; and they ought to be competent judges. 

The idea of representing wood by painting is as old as 
any branch of the business, and, though excellent work has 
been done in days gone by, the eflforts of the foremost grain- 
ers of the present time will favorably compare with those 
of any age, as, with new inventions to aid them, they have 
taken rapid strides toward perfection. 



48 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE TOOLS USED BY GRAINERS. 

STEEL combs (Fig. i) are four or five inches wide, 
with teeth of three regular sizes — course, medium 
and fine. They may be used for all woods where the 
grain is strongly marked, whether the work is done in 
oil or in distemper; there is also a four-inch steel comb with 





Fig. 



Fig. 2. 




teeth graduated from coarse to fine (Fig. 2) that is often 
useful; a few one- or two-inch steel combs are handy for use 
on mouldings or on odd corners. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



49 



Leather combs (Fig. 3) can be purchased from most of 
the large dealers in painters' materials, bub they are inferior 
to combs cut from the best sheet rubber. In making the 
latter choose a piece of rubber measuring about two by four 
inches and not over a quarter of an inch. Cut the teeth on 
each of the four inch sides, making those on one side coarse 




PBIE 



Fig. 5. 





Fig. 7. , Fig. 8. Fig. 6. 

and those on the other side fine, thus you have two combs 
in one, and by turning over the comb different lines can be 
made; do not cut the notches of the comb too deep, and 
leave considerable space for the face of the teeth. A rubber 
comb can be often used, especially on rough work, without 



50 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



covering the teeth with a rag, as being soft it conforms to 
the inequalities of the surface, and leaves a more distinct 
pattern than does a leather comb. 




Fig. 13. 



Fig. 17. 



Fig. 14. 



Fig. 15. 



Fig. 16. 




Fig. 18. 



Fig. 19. 



In representing the grain of oak, the tracks of the steel 
comb should cross or interlock so as to make a series of dis- 
connected lines similar to the pores of the wood; for ash and 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



Other straight-grained woods, the grains should never inter- 
lock but appear clean and sharp in regular order from the 




Fig. 23. 



Fig. 24. 



side of the hearts to the edges of the board. 

The piped bristle or fitch hair overgrainer (Fig. 4) may 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



be used in oil or in distemper for representing ash, walnut, 
cherry, mahogany, etc.; for maple it may be used as an 
overgrainer. For overgraining any wood in distemper there 
is no better tool than the plain bristle overgrainer (Fig. 5) 
the bristles being separated into clusters with a bone comb 
after charging the brush with color. 

The badger blender (Fig. 6) is used for all graining 
done in distemper and is sometimes used for oil work, a 




1(1 



Fig. 25. 



Fig. 26. 



similar brush made of bristles is sometimes used for marb- 
ling. The flat bristle bru.sh used for applying the graining 
color is the only blender necessary for oil work. 

The castellated or knotted overgrainer (Figs. 7, 8 and 
9) is used for graining in distemper work, which has pre- 
viously been grained in oil. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 53 

The plain overgrainer (Figs. 10, 11 and 12) may be 
used for shading in distemper or for graining maple. 

Mottlers or cutters made of bristles (Figs. 13, 14, 15, 
i6, 17) are for use for distemper color in graining maple, 
mahogany, etc. 

The angular cutter (Fig. 17) is used for taking out the 
high lights in mahogany. 

The waved mottler (Fig. 18) is used for representing 
maple, mahogany or satinwood in distemper. 

Camel's-hair mottlers or cutters (Figs. 19 and 20) are 
used for very fine work on maple, etc., but the bristle 
brushes answer all practical purposes. 

The serrated mottler or marbler (Fig. 21) is used for 
maple or satinwood in distemper or for marbling. 

For applying distemper color a tin bound bristle grain- 
ing brush (Fig. 22) is excellent, it should be about yi. an inch 
thick. 

The bristle stippler (Fig. 23) is used for walnut or for 
mahogany in distemper. 

The fitch or sable piped overgrainer (Fig. 24) is used 
in distemper for maple, satinwood or other delicate work. 

The check roller is used for putting in the pores 
of oak and the dark streaks or lines in the hearts, and 
is used to best advantage in distemper. A well charged 
mottler supplies the color. The mottler is laid against the 
edges of the wheels, and by revolving the roller the color is 
transferred to the work. A guard of tin may be soldered 
to the mottler so that it fits the handle of the roller, being 
held in place by the thumb. 

One or two flat fresco bristle liners (Figs. 25 and 26) No. 
1 and 2 for putting in hearts, veins, etc., and one or two tin 
bound sash tools complete the list of all tools necessary for 
use, and any wood that grows may be represented by using 
the tools mentioned. 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 




CHAPTER XVII. 

PATENT GRAINING MACHINES. 

DEVICES other than 
I those usually employed 
-brushes, combs, etc. 
[5"^ ~ — have been invented 

for representing the grains of 
wood, and some of these ma- 
chines are excellent, and are so 
constructed that by properly using them a 
very good imitation of wood may be ob- 
tained. The majority of them, however, seem to have 
been invented for the express purpose of being sold to 
gullible painters. The work done by such machines bears 
but little resemblance to the grain of any wood, and the 
only merit they possess is their boasted ' ' ease of manipula- 
tion." It would seem that the majority of the patent pads, 
rollers, etc., now in use were designed by persons totally 
unfamiliar with the various woods which they claim their 
machines can represent; they bear the same relation to good 
handwork as the schoolboy's drawing of a house bears to 
that of an architect. The quality of the work seems to be 
immaterial if it can rapidly be executed; and if there are 
plenty of knots in the pattern, so much the better. It is of 
no consequence what wood it is supposed to represent, so 
long as it pleases the eye of the painter, and he will often 
purchase at an exorbitant price that which is practically 
useless for ordinary housework. 

I have before me a circular containing some photo- 
graphic illustrations of the work done by a patent roller 
process; and if any wood ever grew that bears a resemblance 
to the illustrations, I am ignorant of its name. Aniline 
colors are the means employed to represent the grains, and 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 55 

the process is designed to obviate the necessity of first 
painting the work, as the color is directly applied by the 
roller, without the wood being prepared in any way. It is 
claimed that any shadows or grains existing in the wood 
will only add to the beauty of the finished work. This will 
be news to the intelligent workman. The circular says 
nothing about how to use the rollers on painted work, so I 
presume it is worthless except for new work, and nearly so 
for that; for the painter who attempts to represent wood in 
the manner described will find that in the end it costs as 
much as though he had employed a skilful workman; and 
when the job is finished, he will have but a poor imitation 
of wood. 

So far as I am aware, the oldest machine for represent- 
ing the graining of wood is the Mason pad, which consists 
of a convex pad with handles at either end. The face of 
the pad is made of a rubber composition, on which are en- 
graved the grains, the pad being about two feet in length. 
The graining-color is applied to the work, and while wet 
the pad is pressed against it, thus removing sufficient color 
to show the grain. This process is now seldom used; the 
composition of which the face of the pad is made hardens 
in cold weather and in hot weather it is inclined to run to- 
gether, and great care must be taken to avoid defacing the 
pad. 

The objection common to all roller processes or ma- 
chines is that they do the same work over and over again, 
which is contrary to what we find in nature, as the grains 
are always different from one another, so that it would 
require an endless variety of patterns to do such work as is 
done by any first-class grainer. 

Another method for the rapid imitation of wood is 
found in stencil-plates, which consist of thin sheets of brass 
so constructed that when laid against the panel to be grain- 
ed they leave no mark until a cloth is passed over the plate, 
when the graining-color exposed by the stencil is rubbed 



56 PRACTICAL GRAINING. 

off, thus making the grains. This sort of work looks much 
better than that done by any of the pads or rollers, but is 
open to the same objection — viz., repetition. 

Another process is operated by having rolls with leather 
or composition surface, with the grains cut thereon; after 
the graining-color has been applied to the work, the rollers 
are passed over it, thus removing the color wherever the 
roller touches. As a rule, the work done by this process is 
not very distinct, nor is it particularly clean. Very large 
rollers have to be used in order to grain a panel four feet 
long, as the work will seldom join without showing the 
joints; and while a door was being grained in this manner 
(with joints in the panels), a skilful workman could do one 
by hand and in a much better manner. 

The best work that I have ever seen, not done by hand, 
was by means of a composition roller with a smooth sur- 
face; it can be used only for the imitation of porous woods, 
as chestnut, ash and walnut, and is useless for oak, cherry 
or any of the close-grained woods. The work can first be 
stippled in distemper, and when dry rubbed in lightly in 
oil; or the roller can be applied directly to the stippled work 
or to the groundwork, and afterwards stippled if necessary. 
It is requisite to procure several pieces of the wood to be 
imitated, smoothed carefully with the pores open; then 
directly apply the graining-color and with the composition 
roller go over the wood, taking the color from the pores 
and applying it directl)' to the work by transfer. If care- 
fully done, you have an exact duplicate of the grain of the 
real wood, and no man can do better work than this; but, 
in order to grain a room or a house in this manner, it is 
necessary to have a great variety of pieces of porous wood, 
and to use each piece only for imitating the wood of which 
it is composed. 

The gransorbian is another transfer process, by which 
the grains are produced as follows: The graining-color is 
applied in the usual manner, and heavy absorptive paper on 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



which the grain of the wood to be imitated is impressed is 
laid against the wet color; a roller with a smooth surface is 
passed over the paper, using considerable force, so that the 
color is absorbed into the paper wherever it is pressed 
against the work by the roller. The paper can be used 
several tiines before it becomes useless through becoming 
saturated with color, but, being cheap, it is an inexpensive 
manner of doing fair to good work. All depends on the 
man who makes the patterns, as, if they are not true to 
nature, the effect is very bad, and some of the samples that 
I have seen are very poor imitations of the grain of any 
wood. I should judge that the paper is produced by apply- 
ing the pulp to a block of wood on which the pattern to be 
produced is engraved, using considerable pressure to force 
the pulp into the carved work. The plain work is done 
with combs in the usual manner. 

Another transfer process is the transfer paper. The 
grain is printed on paper similar to the best wall-paper, and 
is transferred to the groundwork by pressure after first 
wetting the back of the paper and allowing time for the 
water thoroughly to soften the printed color. The surface 
of the groundwork must first be damped in order to receive 
the moist color from the paper. Two or three impressions 
may be obtained from each wetting of the paper. Some of 
the work done by this process is excellent, and approaches 
very near the work done by the smooth transfer roller, but 
the majority of the paper is printed from blocks or cylinders, 
designed not by nature, but by man, and are unwoithy of 
comparison with those printed from nature. 

There are various processes other than handwork, but 
the above are the principal methods employed. 

The first-class grainer has nothing to fear from any of 
the foregoing processes, for while some were being used the 
work could be done in the old way, and equally well, pro- 
vided the workmen were at all skilful. I have never seen 
any work that can excel fine handwork, as there is more 



58 



PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



grace and variety in such work than there is in any done 
by any other methods. When the services of a grainer 
cannot be obtained, machine processes may answer for ordi- 
nary work or for small work, such as ice-chests, pails, etc. , 
but the chief objection I have to them is that they claim too 
much, and the average painter who buys the process is 
deceived, because he is told that any wood can be imitated 
by this or that machine, when such is not the case. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

IMITATIONS OF CARVED WORK, MOULDINGS, ETC., BY 
GRAINING. 

IMITATING carved work, 
mouldings, etc. in graining 
color, more than ordinary abili- 
ty is required in order to suc- 
ceed in deceiving people; and 
this kind of work should not be 
attempted unless there is ample 
time for its proper execution, 
nor should its use be contem- 
plated for too exposed positions, 
as if not thoroughly done it is 
an eyesore to the intelligent be- 
holder, but if done in a recessed doorway or other suitable 
place, inside or outside, it enhances the value of the work 
if it agrees with the general style of the architecture or of 
the surroundings. Mouldings or raised panels are often 
imitated on front doors where the real article would never 
be placed by an intelligent carpenter, owing to the shape of 
the door; hence it would be displaying poor judgment to 
place the imitation where the real article ought to find no 
place. It is wonderful how a thorough grainer can trans- 
form a plastered wall into one apparently sheathed or 




PRACTICAL GRAINING. 



59 



wainscoted, and I have seen doors so perfectly imitated that 
persons would grasp at the knob in attempting to open a 
door that was grained on a plastered wall. Imitations of 
carved figures, scrolls and game-birds are favored by some 
workmen, and are very effective if well done; as a rule such 
work should be seen in a subdued light to render the decep- 
tion more complete. 




INDEX. 

A. 

Alcohol, use of, in distemper, 30. 

Ammonia, spirits of, for removing old paint, 6. 

Angular cutter, 50, 53. 

Aniline colors used in graining, 54. 

Ash, burl, 20. 

burl, ground colors for, 8. 

graining, 17. 

ground colors for, 7. 

Hungarian, 19. 

Hungarian, ground colors for, 7. 

Western, to match, 18. 
Asphaltum for shading color of oak, 16. 

B. 

Badger blender, 49, 52. 

Bamboo brush, use of, in graining rosewood, 37. 
Best colors should be used for graining, 7. 
Bird's-eye maple, 22. 

maple in water color, 22. 
Black walnut, 31. 
Blending groundwork, 12. 

quartered oak, 13. 
Blistered appearance of whitewood, 41. 
Bristle graining brush, 51, 53. 

liners, fresco, 52, 53. 

mottlers or cutters, 50, 53. 

stippler, 53. 
Brush, bamboo, use of, in graining rosewood, 37. 

should not be stubby, 11. 
Burl ash, 20. 

ash, ground colors for, 8. 

ash in oil color, 20. 
Burning off paint, 6, 



INDEX. 



c. 

Camel's-liair mottler or cutter, 50, 53. 

Castellated or knotted overgrainer, 49, 50, 52. 

Champs, to put in, 12. 

Champs, shading, 15. 

Cheap jobs, 6. 

Check roller, 15, 53. 

Cherry, 28. 

ground work for, 8. \ 

in oil color, preference tor, 28. 

natural wood, to match, 8. 
Chestnut, 21. 

clean cut divisions in graining, 14. 

clearly cut joints in graining, 14. 

graining in water colors, 22. 

ground colors for, 7. 

resemblance to ash, 21. 
Coats, which to be avoided, 8. 

thin preferable, 8. 
Color for graining, 9. 

for graining burl ash, 20. 

of wood, to imitate, 9. 

preparation of in graining oak, 10. 

straining before thinning, 7. 

to mix, II. 

usually dark, 10. 
Combs, leather, 48, 49. 

rubber, 12. 

steel, 48. 
Composition roller, graining by, 56. 
Copyists of copies, 13. 
Covering teeth of graining combs, 12. 
Cracking of varnish, 42. 
Curly, or rock maple, 25. 
Cutter, angular, 50, 53. 



INDEX. Ill 



Cutters or mottlers 50, 53. 
Cyress wood, 38. 

D. 

Dark oak, 7. 

ground color for, 7. 

veins in rosewood, 37. 

veins in mahogany, 35. 

veins in quartered oak, 12. 
Degenerate copyists of copies, 13. 
Distemper, graining ash in, 18. 

graining oak in, 16. 
Divisions should be clean cut in graining, 14. 
"Docked" pencil in bird's eye maple, 23. 
Driers in graining color, 11. 
Dry colors should never be used for grounds 7. 

E. 

Edges of panel, how finished, 14. 
Experience in varnish cracking, 43. 
Eyes and shadows in bird's eye maple, 23. 

in bird's eye maple, how to accentuate, 24. 

F. 

Feathered mahogany, 36, 

Fine art, graining considered as a, 46. 

champs in pollard oak, to put in, 28. 
Fitch hair overgrainer, 49, 51. 

or piped overgrainer, 51, 53. 

tool, use of in graining ash, 17. 

tool, use of in graining cypress, 39. 
Flat brush used in graining in preference to round, 1 1 , 

fresco bristle liners. 52, 53. 
French walnut, burl, 32. 

walnut burl, graiiiing in distemper, 33. 34. 

walnut burl, pieces should be small, 34. 



INDEX. 



French walnut, ground work for, 8. 
Fresco bristle liners, 52, 53. 

G. 

Glue size for distemper binder, 30. 
Graduated teeth in graining combs, 12, 
Grainers' combs, 11. 

tools, 48. 
Graining ash, 17. 

ash in distemper, 18. 

by patent roller, 54. 

by stencil plates, 55. 

by transfer paper, 57. 

can be scoured oflf, 5. 

cannot be chipped, 5. 

chestnut, 21. 

color, 9. 

color, to mix, 9. 

considered as a fine art, 46. 

cypress, 39. 

for the trade, 46. 

light oak in oil, 10. 

oak, 7, 16. 

over old paint, 5. 

over old work, preparation for, 6. 

will not fade, 5. 
Gransorbian transfer graining process, 56. 
Grained work, varnishing over, 42. 
Ground color, 6. 

color, Indian red should never be used, for 9. 

for burl ash, 8. 

for chestnut, 7. 

for cypress graining, 39. 

for satin wood, 8. 

colors of ash, 7. 
Growth of ash, heart, 17. 

of cherry, 29. 



INDEX. 

Growth for white wood, 41. 
Ground work for cherry, 8. 

for French walnut, 8. 

for graining, 5. 

for mahogany, 8. 

for oak, 7. 

for rosewood, 9. 

for satin wood, 26. 

for walnut, 8. 

when old paint is not removed, 9. 

H. 

Heart grains in bird's eye maple, 24. 

growth of ash, 17. 

of oak, 14. 

work in quartered oak, 14. 
Hearts, imitating in black walnut, 32. 
Hard pine, 40. 
Hard wood varnishes, 43. 
High lights in whitewood, 41. 
Honduras feathered mahogany, 35. 
Hungarian ash, 19. 

ground colors for, 7. 

I. 
Imitation of carved work, mouldings, etc., 58. 

M. 

Mahogany, 35. 

ground work for, 8. 
Maple bird's eye, 2. 

ground colors for, 7. 
Marbler or mottler, the serrated, 50, 53. 
Mason pad, 55. 
Matching stained oak, 18, 
Mitres and joints in graining, 14. 
Mixing color, 11. 

graining color, 9. 



VI 



ground colors, 7. 
Modern panels and styles of doors, 58. 
Mottler, the waved, 50, 53. 
Mottlers or cutters, 50, 53. 

camel's hair, 50, 53. 

O. 

Oak, dark, 7. 

graining, 16. 

graining, all colors for, 7. 

graining in distemper, 16, 

groundwork for, 7. 

heart of, 4. 

light, 7. 

light in oil, to grain, 10. 

pollard, 27. 

quartered, ^3. 

slashed, 14. 

to grain, 10. 
Objection to roller process of graining, 55. 
Old paint, graining over, 5. 
Old varnish, to remove, 6. 
Overgrainer, castellated or knotted, 49, 50, 52. 

for satin wood, 26. 
Overgraining oak, 15. 
Overgrainer, plain, 51, 53. 

plain bristle, 49, 50, 52. 

piped bristle, 49, 51. 

P. 

Paint, to remove, 6. 

Panel edges, how finished, 14. 

Panels and styles of doors, 58. 

Panels in satinwood, 26. 

Plain bristle overgrainer, 49, 52. 

overgrainer, 50, 53. 
Patent roller process of graining, 54. 



INDEX. 



Preparing old work for graining, 6. 
Piped bristle overgrainer, 49, 51. 

bristle overgrainer, use of, in graining black walnut, 

31- 
Piped overgrainer, 53. 

overgrainer, use of, 30, 
Pollard oak, 27. 
Priming coats, 8. 

partly in distemper and oil, 27. 
Proportions of colors in graining color, 10. 



R. 

Removing old paint, 6. 

old varnish, 6. 
Rock or curly maple, 25. 
Roller, the check, 53. 
Root of ash, 20. 
Rosewood, 37. 

groundwork for, 9. 

in water color, 37. 
Round brush not used in graining, 1 1 , 
Rubber combs, 12. 

combs with graduated teeth, 12. 
Rubbing in graining, 12. 

varnish, experiments with, 45. 

S. 

Sable piped overgrainer, 53. 
Sandpapering, 6. 
Satin wood, 26. 
Second coat work, 6. 
Serrated mottler or marbler, 51, 53. 
Shadows around knarled places, 15. 
Shades in burl ash, 20. 
Shading champs, 15. 
color of oak, 16. 
Silver maple, 25. 



VIII INDEX. 

Slashed oak, 14. 

Smooth surface for graining, 6. 

Solution for touching quartered oak work, 13. 

Solution to remove varnish or paint, 6. 

Spar composition, etc., 43. 

Spirits of ammonia for removing old paint, 6. 

Stained cherry, to match, 8. 

oak, to match, 10. 

white oak in preference to graining, 5. 

wood, ground colors for, 8. 
Steel combs, 11. 

combs, (Illustrated) 48. 

comb, use of, in quartered oak, 14. 
Stencil plates, graining by, 55. 
Stippling for graining in mahogany, 36. 

for Hungarian ash, 19. 

in distemper for black walnut, 31. 
Straining colors before thinning, 7. 
Stubby brush should not be used, 11. 
Substitutes for thumb nail in graining, 12. 

T. 

The angular cutter, 50, 53. 

check roller, 53. 

fitch or sable piped overgrainer, 51, 53. 

graining color, 9. 

mason pad, 55. 

patent graining machines, 54. 

serrated mottler or marbler, 51, 53. 

stubborn bristle, 51, 53. 

waved mottler, 50, 53. 
Thick coats should be avoided, 8. 
Thinning graining color. 11. 
Tools for putting bird's eyes in maple, 24. 

for use in graining cherry, 29. 

used by grainers, 48. 



INDEX. 



Tools, use in graining mahogany, 36. 

use in graining rosewood, 3S. 
Touching quartered oak with solution, 13. 
Transfer graining, 56. 

paper, graining by, 57. 
Thumb nail, substitutes for, in graining, 12. 

V. 

Varnish for exposed work, 42. 

in graining, 5. 
Varnishing over grained work, 42. 
Veins, dark, in quartered oak, 13. 

in oak, 16. 
Vinegar, use in removing old paint, 6. 

W. 
Walnut, black, 31. 

French, burl, 32. 

French, groundwork for, 8. 

groundwork for, 8. 
Water colors, use of, in graining black walnut, 31. 
Waved mottler, the, 50, 53. 
Western ash, matching, 18. 
White wood, 40. 

wood, blistered appearance, 41. 
Woods, color of, to imitate, 9. 



INDEX TO COLORED PIRATES. 
A. 

Ash, burl, in water color. 16. 

dark, penciled and combed, 17. 

Hungarian, ground for, i. 

Hungarian, wiped out, 18. 

light, ground for, 13. 

light, heart of, wiped out and shaded, 13. 

light, wiped out, 12. 



INDEX. 



B. 

Bird's eye maple overgrained, 19. 

ready for the eyes, 21. 

with the eyes, 22. 
Black or French walnut, ground for, 2. 

walnut penciled, 36. 
Burl ash in water color, 16. 

walnut, French, 39. 

C. 

Cherry mottled in oil, 30. 

mottled and penciled in oil, 31. 

mottled and penciled in oil as finished, 33. 

stained, ground for, \ 

wiped out and penciled in oil, 34. 
Chestnut, :o. 

ground for, 2. 
Curly maple overgrained, 27. 

mottled to overgrain, 26. 
Curley walnut, 38. 
Cypress in oil, 45. 

D. 

Dark ash penciled and combed, 17. 
heart of ash penciled, 14. 
or pollard oak, ground for, 2. 

F. 

Feathered mahogany, 42. 

Finished cherry, mottled and penciled, 33. 

rosewood, 44. 
Flaked oak, light, 4.- 

oak light, shaded, 8, 10. 

oak light, ground for, 3. 

or quartered dark oak, shaded, 11. 
French walnut burl, 39. 



INDEX. XI 

G. 



Grounds for graining, i, 2. 

H. 

Hard pine, 46. 

Heart growth oak, light, 6. 

growth oak penciled, 7. 

of ash, dark, penciled, 14. 

of oak checked and shaded, 9. 

of light ash wiped out, 12. 

wiped out and shaded, 13. 
Hungarian ash, ground for, i . 

wiped out, 18. 

wiped out and penciled, 15. 

L. 

L/ight ash, ground for, i. 

ash heart of, wiped out, 1 2. 

ash heart of, wiped out and shaded, 13. 

flaked oak, 6. 

grained or wainscoted oak, 4. 

heart growth oak, 6. 

oak, ground for, 11. 

shaded flaked oak, 8, 10. 

M. 

Mahogany, feathered, 42. 

ground for, 2. 

mottled, 41. 

straight, 40. 
Mapel, bird's-eye, mottled ready for the eyes, 21. 

bird's-eye, overgrained, 19. 

bird's-eye, with the eyes, 22. 
Mottled and penciled cherry in oil, 31, 32. 

and penciled cherry in oil as finished, 33, 

bird's-eye maple ready for the eyes, 21. 



XII INDEX. 

Mottled cherry, 30. 

curly maple to overgrain, 26. 

mahogany, 40. 
Mouldings, imitation of satinwood, 24. 



Oak, dark or pollard, ground for, 2. 

flaked or quartered, 11. 

heart growth, pencilled, 7. 

heart of, checked and shaded, 9. 

light, flaked, 4, 5. 

light, flaked, shaded, 10. 

light, ground for, i. 

light, heart growth, 6. 

flaked, light, shaded, 8. 
Overgrained and mottled satinwood, 25. 

bird's-eye maple, 19. 

curly maple, 27. 

P. 

Penciled and combed dark ash, 17. 

and wiped out Hungarian ash, 15. 

and wiped out walnut, 37. 

black walnut, 36. 

dark heart of ash, 14. 
Penciled heart growth, 7. 
Pine, hard, 46. 

Plain or wainscoted oak, light, 3. 
Pollard oak, 28, 29. 

oak, ground for, 2. 

Q. 

Quartered dark oak shaded, 1 1 . 



Rosewood as flnished, 44. 



INDEX. 



Rosewood as outlined to overgrain, 42. 
ground for, 2. 

S. 

Satinwood, mottled, 24. 

mottled and overgrained, 25. 
Stained cherry, ground for, 2. 
Stippled walnut, 35. 
Straight mahogany, 41. 

W. 

Wainscoted or plain oak, light, 4. 
Walnut, black or French, ground for, 2. 

curley, 38. 

French, burl, 39. 

stippled, 35. 

wiped out and pencilled, 37. 
Water colors, burl ash in, 16. 
White wood in oil, 47. 
Wiped out and pencilled Hungarian ash, 15. 

out and pencilled walnut, 37. 

out and shaded heart of light ash, 13. 

out cherry pencilled in oil, 34. 

out heart of light ash, 12. 

out Hungarian ash, 18. 



CHICAGO VARNISH CO. 



w 



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SAN F RANC ISCO. 

Established 1865. 




G. B. SIBLEY'S 

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is worthy of the attention of every practical painter; it being the only 
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Circulars and Price List furnished on application to 

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dpdAijo Wood fii^hi(| do. 

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WOOD 

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TRANSFER GRAINING PAPER 



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In each number will be found one or more colored plates 
representing such subjects as graining panels, signs, sug- 
gestions for interior decoration, color combinations for ex- 
terior work, etc. 

Practical articles of interest to painters by some of the 
best writers in the country are a constant feature, and the 
minor departments are replete with information written for 
the express purpose of not only interesting the practical 
man and of teaching the beginner, but proving of use 
and interest to all in the fraternity. 



Sample Copies may be had Free of Charge on Application. 



A.r>r>itEs» 



HOn^E pi^iplTIH^ \ DEdDI^ATIjl^ pHBLI^BIMlJ CO., 

1130 SOUTH 35th. STREET, 



